Display

The display of the HTC One mini 2 is a Super LCD2 unit of 720 x 1280 resolution and 4.5 inches of diagonal. This results in a pixel density of around 326ppi.

Although not a Super LCD3 as the HTC One M8's, the screen offers great image quality and viewing angles.

HTC One mini 2's display

Quite similar to the screen of the original HTC One mini, this one offers very good brightness and contrast, the only minor letdown being reflectivity.

Blacks are deep at both ends of our test - at both 50% and 100% brightness. Speaking of brightness, it's a sufficiently bright screen and its contrast ratio is impressive. The LG G2 mini's screen fades in comparison and it has a lower resolution as well. Motorola's Moto G has a reasonably good 720p screen but it too gets outdone by the HTC One mini 2.

Display test

50% brightness

100% brightness

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

Nokia Lumia 630

0.24

184

764

0.71

508

771

HTC One mini 2

0.19

220

1141

0.42

501

1196

LG G2 mini

0.12

91

752

0.52

398

748

HTC One mini

0.15

177

1197

0.50

685

1361

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini

0

166

∞

0

396

∞

Motorola Moto G

0.35

315

906

0.57

550

967

HTC One (M8)

0.20

245

1219

0.46

577

1256

Sunlight legibility is quite good, just not the best. The screen performs decently under direct sunlight but it would've done better had it been a little less reflective.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView4.698

Apple iPhone 53.997

Samsung Galaxy Note 33.997

Samsung Galaxy S53.549

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III3.419

Nokia Lumia 9253.402

Samsung I9505 Galaxy S43.352

Samsung Omnia W3.301

Samsung Galaxy S3.155

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini3.127

Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom3.118

Nokia N93.069

Samsung Galaxy Note2.970

Sony Xperia Z12.950

HTC One S2.901

BlackBerry Q102.856

Samsung Galaxy S II2.832

Samsung Galaxy S II Plus2.801

BlackBerry Z302.790

Huawei Ascend P12.655

Sony Xperia ZR2.672

Nokia Lumia 9002.562

HTC One Max2.537

Nokia Lumia 7202.512

HTC One2.504

Sony Xperia Z2.462

Samsung Galaxy S III mini2.422

HTC One (M8)2.371

Motorola RAZR i2.366

Samsung Galaxy Note II2.307

Oppo Find 7a2.279

Apple iPhone 4S2.269

HTC Desire 600 dual sim2.262

LG Nexus 52.228

HTC One X2.158

Nokia N82.144

Oppo Find 52.088

Nokia Lumia 6302.056

BlackBerry Z102.051

Apple iPhone 42.016

HTC One mini2.003

LG G21.976

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray1.955

Sony Xperia Z21.944

HTC One mini 21.940

Samsung Galaxy Camera1.938

LG G Pro 21.922

HTC Butterfly1.873

Huawei Ascend P61.865

Sony Xperia V1.792

Sony Xperia U1.758

Meizu MX31.754

Sony Xperia T2 Ultra1.740

LG Optimus 4X HD1.691

HTC One V1.685

BlackBerry Q51.682

LG Optimus Vu1.680

LG Optimus GJ1.666

HTC Desire V1.646

Samsung Galaxy Ace 31.622

Sony Xperia Z Ultra1.578

Samsung Galaxy Core1.563

LG Optimus G Pro1.552

LG Optimus 3D1.542

Samsung Galaxy Core LTE1.542

Nokia Asha 3021.537

Sony Xperia M1.473

Nokia Lumia 6101.432

Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo1.393

Gigabyte GSmart G13551.361

Samsung Galaxy Grand1.321

HTC Desire C1.300

Nokia Asha 5011.270

LG Optimus L71.269

LG Optimus L91.227

Meizu MX1.221

Sony Xperia E dual1.203

Samsung Galaxy Pocket1.180

Sony Xperia tipo1.166

Samsung Galaxy mini 21.114

Battery life test

The HTC One mini 2 is powered by a 2110mAh battery, up from 1800mAh in the original, that's quoted at around 16 hours of talk time and 550 hours of standby. For a reference, the Motorola Moto G has a 2070mAh unit, while the LG G2 mini is powered by a 2440mAh monster of a battery.

The One mini 2 offers Power Saving and Extreme Power Saving modes. The former just dims the screen and throttles down the CPU, while the latter is more advanced and disables multitasking altogether and replaces the launcher with a simplified version letting you only access a basic set of features.

The HTC One mini 2 did better than the original but not quite the score we were hoping for. The 50h rating was less than we expected based on the official HTC numbers. For more information here's our full battery test post.

Connectivity

The HTC One mini 2 has quad-band 2G/EDGE support, tri-band 3G with HSPA+ (up to 42Mbps downlink) for the international version and quad-band 3G with HSPA+ for the Asian version. There's quad-band or penta-band 4G support too, depending on the region.

Local connectivity includes dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (that's both 2.4GHz and 5Ghz), Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA. There is also stereo Bluetooth 4.0 with the aptX audio codec. There's A-GPS and GLONASS for positioning too.

The handset has a standard 3.5mm audio jack and a microUSB port. The microUSB port is MHL enabled, meaning you can use it to output content to an external screen with the right type of an adapter. The microUSB port can also be used in a USB host mode where you can hook up various USB periphrals to the phone. Of course, you would need an adapter.

Just like the HTC One (M8) the HTC One mini 2 has support for the HTC Mini+ accessory. You pair the two via Bluetooth and you can then take calls, keep up to date with notifications and more on the little phone.

HTC Mini+

NFC is listed as optional and indeed our unit did not have it. HTC hasn't published a list of markets that get NFC, so that's something to check before buying one.